Our skylit family home near Hyde Park
Our skylit family home near Hyde Park
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1/12 South of France inspiration
Claiming a link between the South of France and a traditional London mews house might seem far-fetched. But it’s a connection that French-born Elodie Besson makes about the four-storey mews home she shares with her husband Alexandre Tiers and their sons Antoine, seven, and Nicolas, four. "I grew up in the South of France, so I love having lots of light,” she says.
Adrian Lourie
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2/12 Transformation
Formerly a gloomy house, it has been transformed by London-based Binom Architects into a surprisingly light-filled, even sunlit family home, thanks to the addition of a large skylight on the top floor that draws light down the stairwell to the ground floor.
Adrian Lourie
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3/12 Bright
A new, minimalist staircase and sandblasted-glass landings on the upper floors bring even more light into the house.
Adrian Lourie
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4/12 An English home
The property also appealed to Elodie, who lived for many years in Paris, for being uniquely English: "You don’t find mews houses in France,” she says, adding that she loves her home’s central location near Hyde Park.
Adrian Lourie
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5/12 Risky strategy
An accountant in the beauty industry, she took the unusually bold, not to say risky step of buying the house without her husband knowing. "We’d lived in an apartment before, but liked the idea of having a little house instead. When I first saw the mews house I instantly wanted to buy it, even though it was dark and shabby. Fortunately, Alex liked it.
Adrian Lourie
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6/12 Calm brief
Our brief was simple. We wanted a calming space with lots of white tones, built-in storage and natural materials.” Co-founded by Spanish husband-and-wife architects Gonzalo Coello de Portugal and Marta Granda Nistal, Binom was chosen by Elodie and Alexandre, who works in finance, after the practice had renovated the London home of friends.
Adrian Lourie
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7/12 Fresh look
The French couple lived in the house for a while before its redesign, which began in January 2014 and was completed in May 2015. The previous occupant lived in a poky, oppressive space with purple walls. "We painted some walls white to freshen the place up,” says Elodie.
Adrian Lourie
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8/12 Top-down renovation
When Binom came on board, it was clear that structural rather than cosmetic alterations were urgently needed. "The house had recently been re-roofed but poorly, so the first thing to do was replace it,” says Gonzalo. "The renovation was done from top down.”
Adrian Lourie
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9/12 Skeletal staircase
The interior was gutted and an existing solid timber staircase, in a similar place to the new lightweight, skeletal one, was removed. Internal scaffolding and ladders provided access to the upper storeys as floors, which were badly in need of repair, were renovated. The house was rewired and replumbed.
Adrian Lourie
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10/12 Let the light in
The main skylight was then installed, plus two more rooflights in a top-floor bedroom and bathroom. Windows on the first and second floors were enlarged, allowing more light to enter the house. Glass panels next to doorways leading to the ground-floor living room and bedrooms let more light still permeate the house.
Adrian Lourie
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11/12 Digging down
Along the way, the couple considered adding a basement. "I didn’t want one at first — too claustrophobic,” Elodie says. But she now sees it as a major asset. "It’s used as a playroom by the children, they have their birthday parties there.” The basement also houses a bespoke wine cellar and a bathroom with an enormous bath where the broad-shouldered Alex, formerly a professional swimmer and tall to boot, can soak in comfort.
Adrian Lourie
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12/12 What it cost
Price paid for the original mews house in 2011: £1.35 million
Cost of the works: £300,000 (basement), £250,000 (upper floors) and £75,000 (joinery and kitchen)
Value of house now (estimate): £2.1 million
Adrian Lourie
Claiming a link between the South of France and a traditional London mews house might seem far-fetched.
But it’s a connection that French-born Elodie Besson makes about the four-storey mews home she shares with her husband Alexandre Tiers and their sons Antoine, seven, and Nicolas, four.
“I grew up in the South of France, so I love having lots of light,” she says.
Formerly a gloomy house, it has been transformed by London-based Binom Architects into a surprisingly light-filled, even sunlit family home, thanks to the addition of a large skylight on the top floor that draws light down the stairwell to the ground floor.
A new, minimalist staircase and sandblasted-glass landings on the upper floors bring even more light into the house.
The property also appealed to Elodie, who lived for many years in Paris, for being uniquely English: “You don’t find mews houses in France,” she says, adding that she loves her home’s central location near Hyde Park.
“Hyde Park Stables, which are still used, are close by. Being in a mews house also feels very private. In the summer, we sit on our bench outside.”
An accountant in the beauty industry, she took the unusually bold, not to say risky step of buying the house without her husband knowing.
“We’d lived in an apartment before, but liked the idea of having a little house instead. When I first saw the mews house I instantly wanted to buy it, even though it was dark and shabby.
"Fortunately, Alex liked it. Our brief was simple. We wanted a calming space with lots of white tones, built-in storage and natural materials.”
Co-founded by Spanish husband-and-wife architects Gonzalo Coello de Portugal and Marta Granda Nistal, Binom was chosen by Elodie and Alexandre, who works in finance, after the practice had renovated the London home of friends.
The French couple lived in the house for a while before its redesign, which began in January 2014 and was completed in May 2015.
The previous occupant lived in a poky, oppressive space with purple walls. “We painted some walls white to freshen the place up,” says Elodie.
When Binom came on board, it was clear that structural rather than cosmetic alterations were urgently needed.
“The house had recently been re-roofed but poorly, so the first thing to do was replace it,” says Gonzalo. “The renovation was done from top down.”
The interior was gutted and an existing solid timber staircase, in a similar place to the new lightweight, skeletal one, was removed. Internal scaffolding and ladders provided access to the upper storeys as floors, which were badly in need of repair, were renovated. The house was rewired and replumbed.
The main skylight was then installed, plus two more rooflights in a top-floor bedroom and bathroom.
Windows on the first and second floors were enlarged, allowing more light to enter the house.
Glass panels next to doorways leading to the ground-floor living room and bedrooms let more light still permeate the house.
Despite this home’s narrow footprint, the new bedrooms and bathrooms feel remarkably spacious.
Binom sourced space-saving features such as a shower with doors that open inwards and injected glamour into the bathrooms by covering walls with floor-to-ceiling frosted glass panels.
In one bathroom, bubble-shaped light fittings seemingly erupt from a wall.
A BASEMENT FOR THE KIDS
Along the way, the couple considered adding a basement. “I didn’t want one at first — too claustrophobic,” Elodie says.
But she now sees it as a major asset. “It’s used as a playroom by the children, they have their birthday parties there.”
The basement also houses a bespoke wine cellar and a bathroom with an enormous bath where the broad-shouldered Alex, formerly a professional swimmer and tall to boot, can soak in comfort.
The couple rented a neighbouring mews house while the work was done. “It gave us a feel of what it would be like to live in one,” says Elodie, who was very actively involved in the project.
“I created spreadsheets to keep track of the build’s cost.” Gonzalo laughs: “Elodie was our quantity surveyor.”
Elodie adds: “I made on-site visits at least once a week. It helped to speed up decisions. I also visited lots of showrooms to help choose materials.”
That said, Alexandre had some input. It was he who recognised the benefits of the new staircase design and gave it the go-ahead.
Gonzalo is fond of making broad-brush statements about the project, which is helpful in terms of understanding its general structure. The house’s layout, it turns out, is asymmetric.
“The staircase isn’t in the centre of the house,” he says. “One third of the house is to the left of it as you go up; two thirds of it is to the right.”
Many of the functional spaces are to be found to the left of the staircase, for example, the utility room in the basement and the kitchen on the ground floor. The living spaces are situated to the right of the stairs.
“We also decided to line one party wall with built-in storage and wardrobes on every floor. This helps to soundproof the house,” continues Gonzalo.
The pièce de résistance is the staircase — a design that is more complex than it appears to be. It is supported by slender 30mm steel rods secured at the top by a central beam crossing the main skylight, and screwed into a metal plate on the basement floor.
“These tension rods support the treads throughout the stairwell,” says Gonzalo. The same rods were used to make the handrails, providing an elegant detail. The treads are made from folded steel-plating just 4mm thick, topped with timber.
“There were lots of technical difficulties with the stairs,” he says. “All the treads had to be folded at precisely the same angle, otherwise the staircase wouldn’t fit exactly into the space.”
There is a gap between the stairs and the back wall on each storey, which lets light seep into the floor below.
While Gonzalo zeroes in on the staircase’s technical qualities, Elodie points out a rather more romantic feature: “The rods remind me of tall masts on a yacht.” Another allusion, perhaps, to the South of France.
GET THE LOOK
- Architects: Binom Architects
- Structural engineer: Michael Hadi Associates
- Mechanical engineer: García Engineering
- Approved building control inspector: MLM
- Contractor: NBS Joinery Ltd
- Steel stair: The Iron Age Metalworks
- Stone flooring: Quebec Classico stone tiles, supplied by Porcelanosa
- Timber flooring: The Natural Wood Floor Company
- Kitchen manufacturer: Poggenpohl
- Bespoke joinery in studio and wine cellar: by Max Turner
- Lighting: wall and recessed ceiling lighting from Erco; Logico Suspension light fitting above dining table, lighting in master bathroom, Dioscuri fittings, all from Artemide; bespoke lighting in the stairwell by Chiara Ferrari, manufactured by The Iron Age Metalworks
- Bathroom taps: CEA
- Sanitaryware: Laufen
- Shower with foldable screen: Duravit
- Curtains in living room: Pierre Fre
